Friday, May 18, 2012

Scooter's

One day, out of the blue, my friend Dave asked me if I'd been to Scooter's. Dave somehow finds time to read JEC while working hard as a first year resident. I can't even imagine what he'll do with all the additional extra time he'll have once he starts his radiology residency. Anyways, he saw my post on Bobtail and thought that it was a shame that I hadn't tried Scooter's, the clearly superior option in his mind. So one Sunday, the two of us and Kayleen drove a bit west on Belmont to try it out.

Logistics
There's nothing tricky to Scooter's. You step right up to the counter and order some frozen custard based dish. The menu is written on the wall alongside the impending line. They've got plenty of seating indoors (which came in handy since it was raining), but they've got a nifty window to the outdoors so that people can just walk up to the side of the building if they prefer. We got there just at the right time because the line immediately grew to a good 20 minute wait.

Everyone was very nice there, and if it were a shack in a parking lot instead of a storefront, you might mistake Scooter's for a small town custard shop. The cost is fine but not necessarily cheap. Some of the concoctions they make run above $6. Still they have plenty of options for around 4 or 5 bucks.

The Food
Like any custard shop, the menu is entirely composed of different ways to mix custard in a cup with a variety of ingredients while calling it some term with a minimal association to thickness. At Scooter's they've chosen "concrete." Kayleen got the Coco Loco, Dave got the PB&J, and I got the Elvis. Dave's had a delicious homemade blackberry jam. It was like an awesome fruit at the bottom cup. The Elvis had reese's peanut butter cups and bananas. The coco loco gave off a coconut cream pie sensation, but since it was the flavor of the month, and I don't think you'll be able to get it anytime soon. In general though, the custard was creamy and smooth. It blended well with the ingredients in each of these dishes while keeping a firm base flavor. I thought it could've been richer though.

The PB&J

The Coco Loco

The Elvis

Overall
As far as custard goes, Scooter's has some of the best in town. Each one of our concretes had a wonderful consistency. I think what sets them apart were the variety of options and the quality additional ingredients. I don't usually find myself in that part of town, but a lot of other restaurants throughout Chicago carry Scooter's. I'm giving them 4 out of 5 Pearls.